Liturgies based on the RCL readings for each Sunday of the church year. I post these for folks to use in worship, as they deem appropriate. If you use these posted liturgies on a regular basis, I hope you might consider making a modest donation to my writing ministry.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Call to WorshipWe gather, as God's people,bringing our fears and pain,knowing that when our spirits have grown cold,God rekindles the gift of faith in us.We gather, as God's people,hanging our broken heartson the branches of the tree of life,knowing that while friends may turn against us,God transforms enemies into sisters and brothers.We gather, as God's people,hungering for healing and hope,knowing that even when life is no picnic,God prepares a feast for us.

Prayer of the DaySinger of Songs:when we have lostthe melody of your hope,you reshape the notes of our hearts;when we can findno resting place,you are the lapthat cradles us;when we are held captiveby our complaints,you free us for praise.

Spirit of Love,as you enter our heartsto ease our loneliness:may we not fogetwho our protector is;may we remember the faithwhich has been gifted to us;may we be stewardsof the good treasure that is ours.

Call to ReconciliationOur faith has been placed in our hands by our parents and grandparents. But we know we have not always done what we ought to have done. Let us lift our prayers to the One who is always ready to place forgiveness in our hearts.

Unison Prayer of ConfessionWe stand before you in this moment, Listening God, and state what you already know. Our cheeks are carved with the tears of the pain we have caused. Our hearts are so empty we cannot comfort others. Our desires have taken us places where we cannot sing your praises.Heart-seeking God, forgive us. Plant a tiny seed of hope that it might grow into a bouquet for others. Increase our faith until it spills over in thanksgiving to you. Fill us with the love that overwhelms all our complaints and rekindles our desire to follow faithfully Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is observed

Assurance of PardonWhile our failures and frailty are fresh, God's grace has been ours before time began. This is great news - we are forgiven.Thanks be to God, who has given us the promise of life in Christ Jesus our Lord! Amen.

Great Prayer of ThanksgivingMay God be with youand also with you.People of God, lift up your hearts.We lift them to the Onewho cradles our hearts in loving hands.People of God, let us give thanksto the God who sets a Table for us.We praise the Lord our Godwho welcomes us with open arms.

It is our greatest joyto sing our songs of praise to you,Gardener of Creation.You planted the seeds of faithin our ancestorswho sought to pass it on to us.But your gifts of love and self-disciplinefound no resting place in our souls.Your tears washedthe streets of the kingdom,when we abandoned themto walk the world's lonely paths.We do not remember who protects us,and we rely on those false godswho would lead us into despair's captivity.But you will not forget us,or leave us orphaned.Hearing us crying in the night,you sent our Hope, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we lift our voices,singing our praise with those in every time, and in every place, who have been brought out of death's exile,and who forever sing your joy.

Sanctus

Holy are you, Speaker of our hearts,and blessed is Jesus Christ, Promise of Life.When we had hung our soulson the branches of loss,he handed them back to us,teaching us the agelessharmonies of grace.When the world left usby the side of the roadlike rusty automobiles,he came to restore us to newness.Splashing in pain's puddles,he washed our feetand dried them with his love,leading us into the kingdom.Daughters of despair,widows of woe,orphans and outcasts -he gathers us all upin his arms of mercywiping out death,and sitting us downat the family Table.

As we remember his grace and love,as we dare not forget his sacrifice for us,we sing of that mystery we call faith:

Memorial Acclamation

Holy Spirit,as we offer the giftsof the bread and the cupfor your blessing,so we present ourselves:our accomplishments, our failings,our hopes, our realities.Make us weak,so we might relyon your strength.As we have heard the Word,may we listento the cries of the poor.As we are familywith those sitting beside us today,may we love our sisters and brothersin every corner of creation.As you hold outthe bread and cup to us,may we reach out to enemiesto clasp hands as friends.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,all honor and glory are yours,Almighty God,now and forever. Amen.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Call to WorshipThe word has come for us from God:who promises to shelter usunder the wings of hope and grace.The word has come for us from Jesus:who encourages us to rememberthe good news we have received.The word has come for us from the Spirit:who reminds us to place ourhope and trust in God.

When our lives crumble,you urge us to buy hope's fields.When we are tempted by wealth,you point us to thosewho have nothing but share all.When we are eagerto grasp senseless lies,you wrap our handsaround God's promises.Servant of the poor,we follow you.

When the world silences our hope,you give us the words to makethe good confession of faith.When we have lost our wayand can no longer endurethe emptiness of our lives,you satisfy us from the abundanceof God's grace and joy.Sheltering Spirit,we seek your peace.

Call to ReconciliationIn God's presence, our lives are exposed, our words are shown for their hollowness, our need is revealed. Let us confess who we are, as we ask God to embrace us with grace and hope.

Unison Prayer of ConfessionWe need to confess, God of Abraham and Lazarus, how often we are not content with the simple gifts and lives you offer. Tempted by wealth, we can become insensitive to those who have nothing. Encouraged by the world to accumulate more, we may miss the chance to gather your goodness and godliness. Chasing after everything that has no value, we may not have the energy to pursue the faith, the love, the gentleness you have for us. Forgive us, God of Reversals. Help us to remember how you have redeemed us, and in remembering, may we make that good confession that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, now and forever.

Silence is observed

Assurance of PardonThis is the good news that comes from God: I will hear your prayers, I will answer with hope and peace, I will deliver you from your sins.God has covered us with grace; under God's hope we will find shelter. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Teaching Spirit,when we are heart-sickover the brokenness of our lives,your compassion racesto bring your gentle balm.When our joy is goneand we are stainedby the world's cruelty,you bathe us in the tearsflowing from God's broken heart.

God in Community, Holy in One,hear us as we pray as Jesus has taught us,Our Father . . .

Call to ReconciliationBefore we speak, God knows our needs, yet our words open our hearts to God's grace. Let us prepare ourselves for God's healing as, in words and silence, we tell of all that separates us from God and one another. Please join me as we pray,

Unison Prayer of ConfessionFirst of all, Everlasting God, we must confess how we have not lived as your people. We serve many masters - work, wealth, power, addictions - yet find no hope in them. We hear the cries of the poor, and shut the doors of our hearts to them. We ridicule those who expose their hopes and dreams to us.

Forgive us, Compassion's Heart, and heal us of our brokenness. Make us well, so that by our healing, we might be the hope and love others need in their lives, even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, brought these gifts to us, calling us to be faithful with the grace, peace, and joy entrusted to us.

Silence is kept

Assurance of PardonNow that we have let go of the pain, the bitterness, the anger of our lives, let us be kind, tender-hearted, and gentle towards each other, forgiving as God has forgiven us.We are God's beloved children, and will model God's grace and love in our hearts. Thanks be to God! We are forgiven! Amen.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Call to WorshipThe foolish say,'there is no God.'We come, trusting in Jesus,the face, the voice, the presenceof the God who loves us.The scoffers of our age ask,'why do you seek after God?'We come, in this time,because God's grace hasspilled over in our lives.The hopeless around us think,'no one cares about me.'We come, in this time, to this place,because Jesus has found usand brought us home.

Prayer of the DayWhen we are short-sightedand think we can't see you,you show us a mothercradling her sick child.When we are anxious,certain you don't care about us,you are confident enoughto trust us with your grace.When we are cynical,sure that nothing matters,you are optimistic enoughto become one of us.God, you are our Hope.

You sweep the streetsof the world,to uncover the peoplewe consider to be trash.You shine your graceinto sin's shadowsto find us whenwe have lost our way.You would leave usto go find the sisterwe left behind.Jesus, you are our Joy.

When we walkthe dusty desert of desolation,you refresh uswith showers of grace.When our liveslie in ruined rubble,you come and builda foundation for usout of love and faith.Spirit, you are our Life.

God in Community, Holy in One,our Hope, our Joy, our Life,hear us as we pray as Jesus teaches,Our Father . . .

Call to ReconciliationWhich of us has not hurt someone this week? Which of us has not spoken (or thought) ill of a sister or brother in Christ? Which of us has failed to do good when given the chance? Which of us - all of us and each of us! But Christ came to save people just like us, so I invite you to join me as we offer our prayers to God, saying,

Unison Prayer of ConfessionAlthough we believe we are experts at faithfulness, Holy God, we must confess we are unskilled workers at doing good. Too often, we turn a deaf ear to the cries ofpeople we have judged to be fools. We easily scoff at those we believe have nothing to teach us or share with us.

How foolish, Searching God, how foolish we are! Forgive us, and restore us to your goodness. Then, send us forth to search for all who sit in the shadowed corners of our world, yearning for someone to come and find them, even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, came to find us.

Silence is kept

Assurance of PardonOur actions sometimes show we do not know God. Our words and lives show we do not understand God's hopes for us. But with utmost patience, God sets aside our foolishness, and fills us with mercy.Mingled with faith and love, grace is poured into our sin-parched souls, giving us new life, restoring us as God's children. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Call to WorshipWe gather in the presence of God:who knows us when we wake upand when we go to sleep,and in all the moments in between.We gather in the house of God:who has created a family for us:here, as well as in Baghdad,in Belfast, and in Nairobi.We gather to be the people of God:who appeals to us to followin love, in faith, in service.

God in Community, Holy in One,hear us as we prayas Jesus has taught us, saying,Our Father . . .

Call to ReconciliationOur sins are not to be hidden from God. Rather, we bring them into the Light and lay them on the Table, trusting in the One who shaped us for goodness and will transform our brokenness into wholeness. Please join me as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer of ConfessionSearching God: we are so attached to our possessions, we have trouble sharing them. We are so connected to our pleasures that we cannot feel the pain of those around us. We are so stuck on ourselves, we cannot sense our souls slipping away into the shadows.Most merciful God: loosen us from the grip of the world, so we may feel your healing touch. Sever us from our sin, so your Spirit mightbind us to you. Reshape us, redeem us, renew us, so we may take up our crosses and follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.Silence is keptAssurance of PardonThe God who calls us is the God who created us; the God who formed us is the God who forgives us. This is the good news - we are God's new creation.In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God. Amen.Great Prayer of ThanksgivingThe Potter of life be with you.And also with you.People of God, lift up you hearts.We lift them to the Onewho reshapes them into grace.People of God, give thanks to the Lord our God.We praise the One who has shaped usfor love and service.With joy we praise you,Creating God.You stooped down and took the claylying on earth's floor,shaping us in your image.But we wonderedwhat it would be liketo follow our own pathsand detached ourselves from your side.We counted the costof being your children,and found it to be too much for us.We pondered your wordsand found them useless for our lives.But you did not take your hands from us,but continue to recreate us,to reshape us, to redeem us.

Giver of breath, shaper of words,all the living find voice to praise you,as we celebrate with the peopleof every time and place,singing to your glory:

SanctusHoly are you, Redeeming God,and blessed is Jesus Christ,our Lord and Savior.Traveling with us,he points out the pathswe are to walk.When he could commandus to do whatever he wants,he appeals to usto follow his example.Whatever wrong we have done,whatever good we have failed to do,Christ charges them to his account,that we might be countedas your beloved children.

So, as we come to the Tableof grace and hopewe remember that mysterywe call faith:

Memorial AcclamationSpirit of the Living God,renew us with this bread and this cupwhich have been set aside for sacred use,even as you refresh our hearts.Fill us with all the goodness of the kingdom,that we may do good for Christas we serve others:in the ways in which we treat our families;in our willingness to drawthe outcast to our side;in our efforts to be your healing handsto the sick and grieving.

Then, here at the Tableand beyond;here, in this moment,and through eternity:remind us that we are always with you,God of all places and times,Christ of those who suffer,Spirit of justice and hope.God in Community, Holy in One.Amen.